L. Bernstein: 'Something's Coming' From West Side Story

Question 1

burlesque

Answer 1

a parody or humorous piece

Question 2

vaudeville

Answer 2

a form of entertainment, popular in the 1700s, in which popular songs were performed with alternative

Question 3

opéra-bouffe

Answer 3

a light opera, often with spoken dialogue and some comical content

Question 4

operetta

Answer 4

light opera

Question 5

extravaganzas

Answer 5

stage shows containing a variety of acts

Question 6

melodramas

Answer 6

dramas in which spoken lines are punctuated by music

Question 7

minstresly

Answer 7

form of enterntainment, popular in the 1800s, in which white actors would be made up in ‘blackface’ to imitate black slaves and poke fun at the rich and powerful

Question 8

when was the musical composed?

Answer 8

1957

Question 9

instrumentation

Answer 9

‘something’s coming’ is a song for a solo tenor accompanied by a band of woodwind, brass, percussion and strings.

to make sure that the band doesn’t overpower the solo singer, the accompaniment uses:
quiet dynamics
soft timbres, such as muted trumpets and pizzicato strings
a homophonic texture

to illustrate the words ‘the air is humming’ the string use harmonics (very high notes) and play tremolo (very quick notes)

Question 10

structure and melody

Answer 10

the melody is almost entirely syllabic. It is based on the alternation of three main themes:

1. the quiet syncopated opening theme
2. the loud, strident theme in 2/4, first heard at bar 21
3. the lyrical, slow moving theme, first heard at bar 73

these three ideas are alternated a number of times. The repetitions are not exact, and Bernstein varies the themes by changing such things as the words or metre

Question 11

rhythm, metre and tempo

Answer 11

the metre changes between 3/4 and 2/4
these changes of metre, the fast tempo and the frequent

syncopation help to maintain a feeling of excitement and anticipation

the accompaniment is largely made up of an on-beat bass part with off-beat chords. At the start of the piece, these two parts create cross rhythms.

Question 12

harmony and tonality

Answer 12

‘Something’s coming’ is in D major. There are two contrasting sections in C major.

There is a frequent use of the sharpened fourth and flattened seventh in both keys (G♯ and C♮ in the D major sections, and F♯ and B♭ in the C major sections). The sharpened fourth creates the interval of a tritone with the key note, an interval and acts as a unifying feature throughout West Side Story.

The tenor’s last note is a flattened seventh (C♮ against D major in harmonies). This is unusual as the note is unresolved and the music just fades out beneath it. It create a feeling of incompletion and fits well with Tony’s sense of expectation.

The harmony is tonal and jazz influenced, with frequent 7th chords and other added note chords.

Question 13

texture

Answer 13

The texture of the song is homophonic. There are three main ideas in the accompaniment:

1. the repeated riff off that opens the song
2. the short, mainly syncopated chords heard in bars 21-26
3. a fast, um-cha accompaniment first heard at bar 32 for the long note on ‘me’